The present invention relates generally to cameras and more particularly to a method for testing cameras for automotive applications.
Automotive systems have substantially increased the use of cameras in recent history. Applications such as blind spot warnings, pedestrian recognition, adaptive cruise control and driver recognition all require cameras that operate under various lighting conditions. Automotive cameras should provide sufficient contrast resolution under the aforementioned conditions.
Difficulties with current camera applications often occur when a portion of a scene is brightly lit while another portion of the scene is shadowed. Two examples of this are when the sun is in the field of view or at night when headlights of other vehicles are within the field of view. Currently, there are no effective methods of testing camera quality for the aforementioned examples. There are however methods of detection experiment methodology used for evaluating contrasting conditions of an object, such vehicle camouflage.
Manufacturer specifications typically contain information such as lowest operable light level and resolution. However this information is usually insufficient for characterizing cameras for automotive applications. Most low light cameras perform well when an entire scene is dark but provide almost no contrast when there is a bright object in the scene. This lack of contrast tends to make many cameras unsuitable for automotive use.
The disadvantages associated with current methods of qualifying cameras for automotive systems have made it apparent that a new camera applicability testing method for automotive systems is needed. This new method should determine which cameras are most appropriate for automotive systems under high glare conditions.